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diggerdee

Rooting rhodies?

I know, I know, I should go to the rhodie forum... but I thought I'd ask here first since I'm more comfortable wth everyone here.

Has anyone had success rooting rhodies? I googled and found some instructions, which seem pretty straightforward (being a visual person, I will have to try to find something with pictures or video to help me out).

But has anyone here done it and what was your success level?

I have a huge old (maybe 50 years old? At least 30...) rhodie but it's way too close to the foundation and smack in front of my house in front of the big window. Ive been putting off cutting it down for almost 15 years but just have to. I thought, being old, it was an elegans, but I discovered after planting a few that the blooms are much darker pink. This old one has gorgeous soft light pink blooms, so I'd like to try to root some cuttings.

My plan is to cut it way down (from about 15 feet to 3 or 4), let it stay another year or two till I decide on my new foundation plantings (and make sure I have some good, healthy, rooted, new plants) and and attempt to move it, although I may just have to sacrifice it.

Anyway, enough rambling about my beloved rhodie. Any hints or tips to guarantee rooting success?

Thanks,
Dee

Comments (20)

  • morz8 - Washington Coast
    10 years ago

    Dee, you'll find some very helpful and experienced people at the rhododendron forum, nothing off putting there. But since you asked here, I linked a set of very easy instructions for taking cuttings of your rhododendron.

    When you do decide to move it, ask again but maybe on the Rhododendron Forum that time. They aren't difficult, only heavy...Surface rooted with a few additional anchoring roots, they have a very wide, but not deep, rootball - you'll need help with the weight.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Cuttings for beginners

  • aachenelf z5 Mpls
    10 years ago

    I've had small, bottom branches which touch the ground root on me. If you have any of these could you simply pin them down and see what happens? Might be worth a shot along with other methods.

    Kevin

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    you might also try air layering ... wound a branch.. get a baggie.. and wrap some potting media into it.. and tape it on for a season or so ...

    thats my description.. lol.. but i never tried it ...

    google: rhododendron air layering you tube

    .... or some such thing ...

    ken

    ps: whatever you search for.. add that YOUTUBE part.. you will be surprised ... go on.. try it.. dont be shy ... lol ...

  • marquest
    10 years ago

    Dee I am glad you asked this question. I have two huge old ones and I was told I could wound a branch and lay it on the ground. Hold it down with a rock. I have tried several times and in 3 years it has not worked yet.

    I am going to try to sprinkle some rooting hormone on it and see what happens.

    I am not help all I can tell you is what has not worked for me.

  • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
    10 years ago

    I have had a couple of varieties root themselves. Bury a branch in well-rotted mulch at ground level, but it may take a couple of years to be ready to cut free.

    This post was edited by nhbabs on Fri, May 31, 13 at 9:36

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi guys. Thanks for the encouragement. I don't think I can layer-root these. There really are no low branches and besides, the soil is rock -hard. This rhodie has been in this spot for possibly 50 years, about two feet (if even that far) from two foundation walls (its in a corner) and the soil, I don't think, has been touched since the day they were planted!

    That's one reason why I want to root cuttings. I still am going to try to move it (I have heard that they are shallow and not deep-rooted) but with the soil the way it is I'm afraid I may do too much damage. So the rooted cuttings will be back-up.

    I actually called a reputable landscaping company to see about digging the rhodie and two lovely (huge) pieris and a yew and relocating them, but it would cost about $3000 so that plan fell through. I hate to sacrifice the pieris - gorgeous, huge, but in the wrong spot and I hate to keep whacking them back. Plus again, too close to the foundation. And sadly, they are the home for baby birds, many a year. But I guess I can buy new (smaller) ones, or better yet, find something more suitable for the foundation. I can't seem to find this particular rhodie. Well, I can't identify it so I can't find it, lol. Maybe I'll post a pic and see if anyone knows what it is....

    I just wish people would do their homework before buying and planting (and this is why I worry about planting stuff, lol. I DO worry about the future homeowner 50 years down the road who may have to take out beautiful old plantings because I planted in the wrong spot!). Oh well...

    So, I'll give the rooting a try! At least I have plenty to work with!

    Dee

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    By the way, here's my rhodie. I'll probably start a new thread on the rhodie forum to see if anyone can ID it, but thought I'd post it here as well.

    Dee

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    10 years ago

    FWIW, both pieris and rhodies can be cut back hard without much of an issue. Both develop latent or adventitious buds under the bark along stems and branches throughout the plant. Even whacking back to just stumps can allow the plant to regenerate........although that severe a treatment does take awhile to come back from and look good. I might attempt something a little less radical :-)

    There is a thread on the Shrubs forum discussing something rather similar with a large, established rhody. They are not at all hard to move (provided you have enough manpower to shift the thing) and the idea of a nursery or landscaper charging $3 grand to do so is preposterous.

    I've moved many a large rhody in my day......and I'm just a little ole lady :-)

    Here is a link that might be useful: Shrub thread - relocating rhododendrons

  • molie
    10 years ago

    Dee, you really should do a search of what Carol Yee has done with rhodie propagation. Her place is called Carol's Collectibles --- it's now in Swanville, Maine, but was formerly in Connecticut. Here's a link to an article about her techniques. I know I have a video that "shows" how Carol creates these cuttings, but couldn't find it.She is very helpful and extremely knowledgeable.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Try to bring some green indoors

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks Molie! I'll read that article this evening. Looks good!

    Gardengal, the funny thing is, I saw that thread this afternoon while searching for something else! So I read it as soon as I saw it.

    I think the cost of the landscaper moving the shrubs came in so high because he would have had to hand-dig everything, being so close to the foundation, and the soil is like concrete. He would have had to pay at least two if not three or more guys, dig up 4 huge, heavy shrubs, use a backhoe to move them, and then dig holes and replant - and they were not being replanted in a really easy spot, as I wanted them moved into the woodland area. I believe he was going to try to do this without cutting them back. The rhodie is 12 to 15 feet high, the pieris about 8 feet high and almost as wide. So the $3K was not just to dig up one rhodie.

    I have cut back these things repeatedly and i just don't want to do it anymore. I almost feel like it's unfair to the shrubs. I know that sounds weird, but I'm trying to fit a 15 foot rhodie into a spot for a 4 foot one, etc. Plus these monsters are too close to the (cinderbock) foundation and that makes me nervous.

    So, the plan is rooting cuttings for back-up plants, and then when I know i have some healthy plants, I will cut back and try to dig the original. I was really hoping someone here had done this and could give some first-hand advice, but I really do appreciate all the info, links, and support.

    Wish me luck!
    Dee

  • ginny12
    10 years ago

    Just to echo what someone else said, the old 'ironclad' rhododendrons can be cut back very, very hard and come back beautifully. I did this to all my 35 yr old Roseum Elegans shrubs a couple of years ago and they look great. I did fertilize and water diligently....

    The best story is what I saw at a friend's nearby. Her husband wanted to get rid of an old Roseum Elegans that was reaching the 2nd story but didn't want to pay the stiff price of a landscaper to remove it. So he cut it to the ground, leaving an 8" stump. Amazingly, it threw out new growth--not his intention--and formed a nice 'new' shrub within a few years. Something to think about.

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks Ginny, but as I said, I'm tired of forcing this beautiful shrub that wants to grow 15 feet high into a spot meant for a 4-ft shrub. Plus the roots are too close to the foundation and the shrub itself is too close to the house. It needs to move. I am hoping that since it is an old "ironclad", that it will take the move well and rebound and grow to glory in its new spot!

    Thanks!
    Dee

  • marquest
    10 years ago

    Dee this gave me a chuckle... I DO worry about the future homeowner 50 years down the road who may have to take out beautiful old plantings because I planted in the wrong spot!). Oh well..

    I have a monster and at least the original owners did think of not planting to close to the house. It is a good 20' away from the house but it is almost still not enough. I have about 10' behind the bushes. I am sure they were planted 40 years ago.

    I do like it because it is evergreen and a good blocker for our winter wind weather.

    This is big. Can you imagine they did not stop with one they planted two. LOL

    {{gwi:230649}}

    {{gwi:230651}}

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Wow marquest, those are gorgeous! Do you happen to know the names? I'm guessing you don't, but just in case.... I'm betting the dark pink is elegans, and the light pink one is the same as what I have, although it looks even lighter (gee, is it even white? Can't quite tell, although it looks to have a pink tinge to it)

    Actually the original owner here DID plant two of these monsters! Not together, though, but one on each side of the front door. The ironic thing is, on the other side of the door, where there is only one "normal" sized window, (i.e. lots of house to cover) the rhodie never got as big, got damaged when we redid the roof, and finally died about three years ago. Of course, in front of the big bay window, the darn thing towers over the roof line, lol!

    I was thinking - and my husband said it out loud - that when we remove these shrubs we are going to feel VERY exposed! We do keep them cut back and we can see out the window, but the window is somewhat framed by them, and it gives a sense of privacy (kinda like windows with grids vs. windows without - the grid really provides no privacy but gives the sense of it) and when these are gone we are going to feel like the whole neighborhood is looking into our living room!

    Dee

  • marquest
    10 years ago

    No it is white there is no pink in it. It is only one pink and the white one.

    Although my house sits back off the street about 100' I still like the feeling of privacy the Rhoddies give me. But I feel like you sometime "they sure are big".

    Sorry you are right I do not have a clue of a name of either one. This is a close up of the white one. Actually it is white and yellow. It is the one I keep trying to root because I would like one on the hillside in the back gardens. The deer keep it trimmed back or it would be down the hill already.

    {{gwi:230652}}

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Ah yes, I see the yellow in it now. Very pretty.

    Well, marquest, let's each try it (you again, me for the first time) and let's wish each other luck! At least we each have plenty to take cuttings from!

    :)
    Dee

  • corunum z6 CT
    10 years ago

    Dee wrote, "I'm tired of forcing this beautiful shrub that wants to grow 15 feet high into a spot meant for a 4-ft shrub". Well, I've done exactly that to roseum elegans for 35 years in front of my house and they're healthy and bloom well. Here's a picture, Dee, of those that I moved to a border (when they were 15' tall --a Bobcat and 3 men - not $3K) and the tallest rhodies in the side border I bought in the same lot with those I planted in the raised foundation bed. I've stumped rhodies over the years, hauled them out and moved them, and they are tough plants! I look at this way: I'd like to have been 5'8" and 125 lbs. and that didn't work out well, but I still bloom. Health and bloom wise, the roseums, tall or short, are happy here and I am very happy with them. If you like the shrub, sculpt to your liking. Takes a few years to fill in, but they do.

    Contact Carol Yee at Carol's Collectibles in Maine as Molie mentioned - we both know her. She is a professional propagator and super nice.
    Jane

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Jane, did you post about this when you did it? I seem to recall someone doing that, and perhaps it was you? What a charming house and beatiful garden!

    What everyone seems to be missing here, (besides the question that I originally asked, lol, which is regarding experience with rooting), is that I am not saying pruning rhodies cannot be done. I know very well it can be. I learned this when, years ago when I first moved here, my neighbor cut back his row of gorgeous rhodies to practically stumps! After my initial horror, I was very relieved and happily surprised when they grew back as beautiful as ever.

    What I am saying is I DON"T WANT to continue to whack this plant (or the pieries and yews) back anymore. I work three jobs and have an acre to care for by myself, and there are many other gardening tasks on the list (most of which are being sadly neglected already!) besides cutting back these shrubs every year. Plus, I do want the shrubs to be able to do what they want to do.

    I don't want to cut them back dramatically once every few years either, because they are in front of my house and I don't want stubs there, lol - that would look as bad as the overgrown things I've got there now! My house (what can be seen of it) is the messiest looking on the block because of these too-big shrubs planted smack against the house.

    I will indeed try to move the rhodie - once I know I have some rooted plants as back-up in case I kill the poor thing. I won't try moving the two pieris and and yew because I don't own a backhoe and honestly don't have three guys who will help me for free. So those will have to go. The rhodie I'll try to dig myself and hope the cement its planted in won't give me too much trouble!

    Then I hope the rhodie will thrive in its new spot, grow as tall as it wants to, and we will both be happy!

    And yes, I may contact Carol Yee, thanks! I'm sure the rooting is not super difficult, but it is always nice to have someone who's done it successfully give some tips. Much more reassuring that way!

    Thank you everyone!
    :)
    Dee

  • marquest
    10 years ago

    Dee please keep us posted if you are successful. I would really like a baby from my white one.

    I have tried everything everyone has told me and from my research. The branches that nicked and pulled to the ground are still there not rooted last year. Maybe it will take a couple of years. This will be year two. I have not checked maybe they did root over the winter.

  • wieslaw59
    10 years ago

    I have rooted some common rhododendrons. There can be a huge difference between individual varieties how easy they grow roots, from easy ones to nearly impossible. The ordinary R.catawbiense Grandiflorum roots easily. The easiest one is the old Cunninghams White.

    The white rhododendron in the picture above looks like R.catawbiense Album.

    There is a book(but do not remember the title at the moment) with an extensive list of cultivars divided according to the easiness of rooting.

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